Wow! The New York Skyline’s Incredible Story In Pictures

A collection of over 100 stunning photos of the New York Skyline, from the 1910s, right through to the present day. A pictorial history of the city.

The Manhattan skyline is one of the world’s most iconic views, inspiring photographers and filmmakers for generations.

Join us on a journey through the history of New York’s skyline.

From the first skyscrapers, through the accelerating ‘race for the sky’ of the 1920s and 30s and right up to the present day.

The Early Skyscrapers: 1915 – 1924

Brooklyn Bridge, East River and Lower Manhattan skyline (c 1915). The Woolworth Building (center-right), constructed in 1913 and standing at a height of 241m is the tallest building both in shot and in New York at the time.

Lower Manhattan Skyline (1915). Again the Woolworth building is prominent and it remained New York’s tallest skyscraper until 1930.

Long Island Historical Society

Here it is profile in a Library of Congress shot dated between 1910 and 1920.

Library of Congress

In 1916 the Zoning Resolution was passed to stop buildings such as the Equitable Building (below, behind Trinity church) from preventing light and air reaching the streets below. While the resolution did not restrict height, it established limits in building massing at certain heights and restricted towers to a percentage of lot size. The wedding cake, tiered art Deco skyscrapers of the 1920s and 1930s are a direct result of this resolution.

The 24-story Neogothic style Bush Tower,built on 42nd Street between 1916 and 1918.

View of the Lower Manhattan skyline looking South West across the Brooklyn Bridge (1924).

Aerial view of lower Manhattan (1924). The construction of the 30-story Standard Oil Building (a wedding cake style skyscraper) can be seen at center.

The Race For The Sky: 1925 – 1934

The race for the sky is well underway and with the zoning law in effect, the massive tiered skyscrapers start to dominate the skyline. This view of midtown Manhattan looking southeast from Central Park was taken in May 1925.

Fairchild Aerial Surveys

Park Avenue’s first large skyscrapers, such as the 45 story Ritz tower (below) were completed in 1925.

1926 sees the completion of New York’s first Art Deco buildings. Art Deco is based on mathematical geometric shapes and is influenced by the “primitive” arts of Africa, Ancient Egypt, and Aztec Mexico. The New York telephone building (below) was one of the first Art Deco buildings to be opened.

Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker, 1926

Another Art Deco building, The Paramount Building, also opened in 1926 and boasted an observation tower where observers could look out across the evolving New York skyline.

Bloom, Ken

Lower Manhattan looking northeast from the Bay. July 1927. The construction of the Morgan building can be seen in the centre, alongside the new Standard Oil building.

View across the East River, taking in Manhattan and Brooklyn bridge (1928).

With the race for the sky quickening pace in 1928, the 680ft tall Chanin building opens on the soutwestern corner of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street. While it is lower than the Woolworth building, it is the tallest building in midtown Manhattan and stands at 56 stories.

Sloan & Robertson, Architects. 1928.

Construction of the 40 story New York Central building in May 1928.

Here it is on its completion in June 1929.

In 1928, two architects William Van Allen and H. Craig Severances, who had previously been partners, dissolved their partnership and resolved to build New York’s highest skyscraper. Craig Severances announced the construction of the 67 story Bank Of Manhattan building at 40 Wall Street, while Allen announced he would be designing a 65 story building on the northeast corner of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street for Chrysler Motor Company.

The Bank Of Manhattan building on its completion in Autumn of 1929 (below). The building stood at 71 floors and 927ft and was briefly the world’s tallest building, however…

… the Chrysler Building had an ace up it’s sleeve and with the installation of its famous needle took the crown as king of skyscrapers.

The Chrysler Building was completed in 1930 and at 1,046 feet (319 m) was both New York and the world’s tallest building at the time. Seen in the background above, it would soon be overtaken by the Empire State Building (foreground), which was nearing completion.

Probably the most famous skyscraper in the world, The Empire State Building was built during the hardest times of the Great Depression and became a symbol of optimism, hope and faith in the future. The construction of the Empire State Building employed more than 5000 workers providing a much needed boost to the local economy. The first stone of the Empire State Building was placed on March 17, 1930, and by April 7, the first steel columns of the main section had been installed.

Fearless workers resting on a beam during the construction of the Empire State Building (1930).

The Empire State Building was officially opened on the 1st May 1931, containing 102 stories and standing at 1,250ft making it the world’s tallest building.

The completed Empire State Building standing at 1,250 feet (380 m) and Chrysler building loom large over Manhattan (1932). The Empire State Building remained as the world’s tallest building until the topping out of the original World Trade Centre in 1970.

Midtown Manhattan looking northeast from Empire State Building at night. June 1944.

Daily News

Construction Of The UN Building: 1945 – 1954

In the early morning of Saturday, July 28th 1945 a B-52 Mitchell Bomber with two passengers was flying above New York City on course to New Jersey. Tragically the plane, which was surrounded by thick fog crashed into the Empire State Building on the 79th floor, killing the pilot of the plane and 13 others. Below, construction workers work to repair the damage.

Manhattan skyline at night, 1947.

Andreas Feininger

The new 32-story Esso Building in the Rockefeller Center. July 1947.

Construction of the 100 Park Avenue Building begins in September 1948.

The completed Socony-Mobil Building in July 1956. The Socony-Mobil building was the first time that stainless steel had been used at scale in the facade of a large skyscraper. Located at 150 East Forty-second Street the building was 45 stories tall.

Night view of the completed Seagram building, June 1958. With its curtain wall facade, the Seagram building, constructed between 1956 and 1958 marked the end of Wedding-cake skyscraper age (the zoning law was reviewed) and heralded the age of the tall monolithic skyscrapers of today.

Ezra Stoller

A helicopter flies over Midtown Manhattan in May 1958. The Empire State and Crysler Buildings are seen at the right of the background.

Construction of the 64-story Chase Manhattan Building, July 1959 (Woolworth Building on right).

Midtown Manhattan looking southeast from RCA Building showing the steel skeleton of the Union Carbide Building under construction in foreground. July 1959.

The enormous steel structure of the Chase Manhattan building is 813ft (243m) high and contains 1,800,000 square feet above ground level, with a further 600,00 square feet below ground. On its completion in 1961, the building dominated the financial district. The photo below was taken in May 1961 with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground.

Night view of Lower Manhattan skyline with the Chase tower full illuminated. 1962.

Also completed in 1961 was the Equitable Life Assurance Building, a 42 story aluminium and glass curtain wall skyscraper that looms over Sixth Avenue and West 51st/52nd streets.

High Finance: 1985 – 1994

In 1987 construction of the Cityspire Center (below, center) was completed in Midtown Manhattan. Standing at 814ft (248m) the building and located on the south side of West 56th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, the building is the tallest mixed use skyscraper in New York City.

source

Manhattan skyline with the Statue Of Liberty. 1989.

Lower Manhattan skyline. 1990.

Lower Manhattan skyline with World Trade Center. 1994.

The Skyline Changes Forever: 1995 – 2004

Night view of the illuminated lower Manhattan skyline. 1995.

Construction work on the Condé Nast Building at 4 Times Square in 1999.

The construction of the Condé Nast Building was completed in 2000 and the finished structure stands at 809ft (247m). Below the antenna of the building towers over the afternoon Manhattan skyline.

We all know of the tragic events of September 11th 2001, so no need to mention them here. Of course the lower Manhattan skyline was drastically altered thereafter for the most awful reasons imaginable. We will skip a few years to this photo of the lower Manhattan skyline taken from the Staten Island Ferry in 2004.

Going back to 2001, we can see the Trump World Tower under construction. Located at 845 United Nations Plaza (First Avenue between 47th and 48th Streets), the building briefly held the record for tallest all-residential building in the world, before it was overtaken by the 21st Century Tower in Dubai in 2003.

In 2003 the twin towers of the Time Warner Center were added to New York’s skyline. The complex at Columbus Circle consists of two 750ft (229m) towers connected by a multi-story atrium. This night shot shows the Time Warner towers in full illumination (center, rear).

2004 saw the opening of the ‘Bloomberg Tower’ at 731 Lexington Avenue. This 806ft tall building contains 55 stories and is currently the 15th tallest in New York City. Below shows the tower and midtown Manhattan at sunset.

Completed in 2007, the New York Times Building stands at 1,046ft (319m) and looms large over the skyline of midtown Manhattan.

In 2009 construction of the Bank Of America Tower at One Bryant Park was completed. At 1,200ft (366m) it is currently the sixth tallest building in the United States. It can be seen below on the right of the photo with the Condé Nast Building to its right. The Empire State Building is central.

The new One World Trade Center is topped out on August 30th 2012 and stands as a beacon of hope in New York. The new tower reaches a height of 1,176ft (541m) including spire – a deliberate reference to 1776, the year the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Manhattan skyline viewed from Jersey City in 2013 with the new One World Trade Center dominating the view.

The final addition to the New York skyline is the building at 432 Park Avenue, which was completed in 2015. At a whopping height of 1,396ft (426m) it is currently the second tallest building in New York (behind the One World Trade Center) and the third tallest in the United States. It is also one of the tallest residential buildings in the world.

Many experts will say that tattooing is the most difficult form of art to master. The main reason, to them, is that the skin is a very unpredictable and different people have different types of skin. Colors may change hues according to the way you take care of your artwork, and so on. If you […]

It’s normal to remember many important men in history, since women did not get too much recognition in the past, no matter how badass their actions were. However, some women managed to overcome a – by then – man dominated world. Here’s some of the Most Badass Women in History. 1. Maria Teresa De Filippis […]

Most places have their own history…but others, such as the following have extraordinary and spooky stories within. Here are the 10 Scariest places on Earth you should visit – or not. 10. Hanging Coffins of Sagada, Philippines The million years’ practice of hanging coffins is seen in many parts of the world, but in Sagada […]

When it comes to the pickup line, people have a love/hate relationship with it. Some people fall for them every time, especially the cheesy ones, while others just roll their eyes and dismiss the person. We like to think that a good pickup line is the basis to any great relationship. If you’re someone who […]

Most of us desire to be happier. It’s a big part of what makes us human. But are there practical changes we can make in our lives to improve our happiness? I believe there are. So, here are 14 simple changes that will help to make your life happier. And importantly, they won’t cost you a penny. Let’s […]

While traditional tobacco use among teenagers is at an all-time low. Electronic cigarette use by this demographic has skyrocketed. It is estimated e-cigarette revenues will surpass traditional cigarette sales by 2025. Teens have seen an 800% increase in e-cigarette adoption from 2011 to 2014, with 2.6M middle and high school aged students using e-cigarettes. What […]